About the King County Medical Society

With more than 4,000 members and over 12,500 physicians in the county, King County Medical Society (KCMS) is among the largest county medical societies in the United States.

KCMS represents the collective voice of its member physicians who practice in King County – Washington state’s largest and most urban county. KCMS (established in 1888)  supports physicians and works to improve the quality of life for doctors and their patients by promoting the highest ideals and standards of medical practice.

While the Society’s activities have evolved in response to advances and challenges in health care delivery, its core mission has remained the same:

To be a powerful voice and political advocate for physicians and patients at local, state, and federal levels.

The Society acts as a champion for King County doctors to support and strengthen the physician-patient relationship and promote the health and welfare of King County residents.

KCMS has been busy! To highlight some of our work, KCMS has

  • Distributed Covid-19 vaccines to thousands of physicians, their staff, and patients beginning early in the vaccine phase.
  • Kept frontline workers safe and connected to their patients during the pandemic by providing thousands of units of telehealth equipment and tens of thousands of units of PPE, which we manufactured our own through our “Frontline PPE” effort.
  • Prior work included organizing emergency medical hotlines and leading medical missions abroad.
  • KCMS has also:
    • lobbied for improvements in firearm injury and death prevention,
    • changed outdated legislation to provide for more thorough and equitable death investigations,
    • successfully advocated for telemedicine parity,
    • expanded and integrated vaccine databases throughout WA state,
    • championed the successful effort for lead testing in schools, and
    • continued to promote universal access to health care.

Goals and Directives:

  • Ensuring that our healthcare workers are supported and protected during the practice of providing care to patients.
  • Help the medical profession meet its collective responsibilities to the public in resolving health care delivery issues.
  • Unite county physicians to advocate for themselves and the public health in our community.
  • Nurture a favorable public perception of the profession by helping people understand and appreciate medicine’s contribution to public welfare.
  • Protect the public against exploitation.
  • Monitor the improvement of methods designed to pay for medical services.
  • Promote and advance the art, skill, knowledge, and interest in medicine to improve health & standard of living.

Our world faces severe environmental challenges that directly impact health

Protecting the environment can provide immediate public health and economic benefits. Climate change and declining ocean health endangers people’s health and causes hundreds of thousands of deaths every year. By acting boldly to address these threats, we can improve millions of lives today – and build a safer, healthier future for the generations to come. Working together toward common goals, we can overcome these challenges. That’s what King County Medical Society is all about. We hope you will join us today!